


Essay: School Life in France

by Cyn_Finnegan



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-16
Updated: 2021-03-16
Packaged: 2021-03-24 11:20:45
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 975
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30071466
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cyn_Finnegan/pseuds/Cyn_Finnegan
Summary: Links on classes:12 Things You Should Know About French Schools.School Schedule: Reforming Traditions in Francefrom the Christian Science Monitor is from 2012, but it covers a lot of information.Links on lunches:Karen LeBillon's French School Lunch Menus.What French Kids Eat For School Lunch (It Puts Americans To Shame!)Taste of Home: This Is How French School Lunches Are Different from American Ones
Relationships: None
Comments: 5
Kudos: 9





	Essay: School Life in France

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [French School: how it works](https://archiveofourown.org/works/24770863) by [UsUntilTheEnd](https://archiveofourown.org/users/UsUntilTheEnd/pseuds/UsUntilTheEnd). 



**School Life in France**

Like the essay that inspired this, I've noticed a lot of stories still have some incorrect information on the school system in France, especially where lesser-known things, like school holidays and school lunches, are concerned. I hope this will help further clarify things.

The school day in France starts at 8:30 AM and finishes at 4:30 PM to get kids used to "work week" hours (which is typically 35 hours a week), and because the French eat their evening meal at a later time than Americans or other Europeans do. The typical school week in France is four and a half days, with Wednesdays being the half day. This allows students time for extracurricular activities, such as sports.

Nursery school is called école maternelle, and children start at the age of 3, so if you say the characters you're writing have known each other since maternelle, they've known each other since between the ages of three and five. Primary school is called école primaire, and children start in September of the year they turn 6 - so children born in 2015 all start primary school in September 2021.

Middle school is called collège, and children attend from the age of 11 to 15. Secondary school is called lycée where students from the age of 15 spend 3 years studying for their baccalauréat - the equivalent of A-levels in the UK, and what we call college in the US and most of Western Europe is called universitie in France.

If a child doesn't achieve their grades in any given year, they'll have to repeat it. This is called redoubler, and repeating a grade is far more common in France than it is in the US or the rest of Western Europe.

Kids in France are encouraged to exercise, so it's more common to see a French student walking to school and home rather than riding a bus or Metro (subway), or having a parent or guardian driving them. Chloe and Adrien are exceptions because Chloe is an entitled brat, and Adrien's father is a paranoid twit.

Pupils get a long lunch break and either eat at the school canteen, which offers freshly cooked, healthy meals, or they go home for lunch – no packed lunches in France (see Part Two).

Parents are required to take out insurance for their children, which is called assurance scolaire. This insurance is for school trips, sports, and other extra-curricular activities. It costs between €10 and €35, and covers any damages a child might do to school property or the loss of belongings.

Unless they're parochial (Church run), French schools are strictly secular, so there's no nativity plays at Christmastime, and unless it's a private or Church-run school, pupils are not required to wear a school uniform, either. The uniform Kagami wears on MLB is from her old school in Japan, where uniforms are required for junior high and high school students.

French school holiday dates go as follows: All Saints’ break, between mid-October and early November; Christmas break, mid-December to early January; Winter break, early to mid-February, or mid-February to early March, depending on zone; Spring break: mid to late April (Zone A); late April to mid-May (Zone B); mid-April to early May (Zone C); Summer break: early July to early September.

In case you're wondering, Besancon, Bordeaux, Clermont-Ferrand, Dijon, Grenoble, Limoges, Lyon, and Poitiers are in Zone A. Aix-Marseille, Amiens, Caen, Lille, Nancy-Metz, Nantes, Nice, Orleans-Tours, Reins, Rennes, Rouen, and Strasbourg are in Zone B. And Creteil, Montpellier, Paris, Toulouse, and Versailles are in Zone C.

Parents have to provide all the stationery and equipment for their child, but can apply for an income dependent grant to pay for these things if they can't afford them. This is called Allocation de Rentrée Scolaire, and you can apply for it at your local CAF (Caisses d'Allocation Familiales). The only thing schools in France are required to provide for students are their books.

**School Lunches in France**

Starting when children enter maternale at the age of three and going through lycee (high school), kids in France are served a hot lunch consisting of four courses: a vegetable starter (usually some kind of salad), a warm main course served with a side of grains or vegetables, cheese and slices of fresh baguette from local boulangeries, and dessert, usually fresh fruit, with a slice of tart, another pastry, or a scoop of ice cream once a week.

Vegetarian/vegan meals are offered at least once a week, too. It's all fresh food, cooked in the school's kitchens and local bakeries, served on proper plates with metal utensils, cloth napkins (in some schools), and water to drink with it.

Lunch in Paris schools lasts an hour. That's right, a whole hour. Why? Partly because it aids in digestion, which prevents stomach aches and the dreaded "3 o'clock crash" American kids go through, partly so kids can spend more time socializing with their peers. Also, most Parisians eat dinner much later than Americans do, usually somewhere between 7 and 8 PM instead of between 5 and 6 PM, so a long, slow lunch keeps them going longer between meals.

In maternale and elementaire, this long lunch is followed up with an hour of recess. 

Since the baguettes served with the cheese course, as well as the weekly tarts and other treats, at lunch are provided to schools by local bakeries, it's more than likely that Tom and Sabine's shop provides the bread and pastries to College Francois Dupont.

"Outside" foods (also known as bag or box lunches) are generally frowned upon, and most kids don't bring them anyway. There are also no vending machines with soda, chips, or candy in Paris schools, either. The French government has banned their use in schools. Students either eat in the school's café, or at home.

**Author's Note:**

> Links on classes:
> 
> [12 Things You Should Know About French Schools](https://www.completefrance.com/living-in-france/education/12-things-you-should-know-about-french-schools-1-4483611).
> 
> [School Schedule: Reforming Traditions in France](https://www.csmonitor.com/The-Culture/Family/2012/1005/School-schedule-Reforming-traditions-in-France) from the Christian Science Monitor is from 2012, but it covers a lot of information.
> 
> Links on lunches:
> 
> [Karen LeBillon's French School Lunch Menus](https://karenlebillon.com/french-school-lunch-menus/).
> 
> [What French Kids Eat For School Lunch (It Puts Americans To Shame!)](https://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-14845/what-french-kids-eat-for-school-lunch-it-puts-americans-to-shame.html)
> 
> [Taste of Home: This Is How French School Lunches Are Different from American Ones](https://www.tasteofhome.com/article/this-is-how-french-school-lunches-are-different/)


End file.
